Democrats ask AG Holder for tougher Libor investigation

Notice who is asking for an investigation and who is sitting by quietly? The Democrats have plenty of deep links to Wall Street and Wall Street campaign money but the GOP has become the voice of Wall Street since the 2008 economic meltdown. The GOP sees their boot licking as a way to raise money and destroy the economy, all for political gain.

The senators, including Carl Levin, Jack Reed and Dianne Feinstein, said investigators should also look into allegations that U.S. and foreign bank regulators may have been aware for years of wrongdoing in the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR.

Lawmakers in the United States have slowly become more outspoken about the allegations, which already have caused an uproar in London. The letter represents the toughest political pressure yet on U.S. investigators to find and punish banks and regulators that may have been involved in the scandal.

"Just like the banks and executives they oversee, regulators who were involved should be held to account for any failures to stop wrongdoing that they knew, or should have known about," the senators said in a letter dated Thursday to Holder, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

It's still disturbing that four years down the road from the crash, Washington has not had a single conviction on Wall Street. Anyone in the political class that doesn't think that's important to the real world is kidding themselves. At the same time, anyone in the real world who thinks the political class cares is probably kidding themselves.

The serious issue that Wall Street now has is that they're likely looking at billions of dollars in fines due to Libor manipulation in an already troubled banking industry. The room for manoeuvre by the political class is limited due to voter outrage, so Wall Street could find itself in a very tough situation this time. If they need help again (and there's a good chance of that) they probably won't see the same support for their luxurious lifestyle and bonuses as they did in 2008.

Notice who is asking for an investigation and who is sitting by quietly? The Democrats have plenty of deep links to Wall Street and Wall Street campaign money but the GOP has become the voice of Wall Street since the 2008 economic meltdown. The GOP sees their boot licking as a way to raise money and destroy the economy, all for political gain.

The senators, including Carl Levin, Jack Reed and Dianne Feinstein, said investigators should also look into allegations that U.S. and foreign bank regulators may have been aware for years of wrongdoing in the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR.

Lawmakers in the United States have slowly become more outspoken about the allegations, which already have caused an uproar in London. The letter represents the toughest political pressure yet on U.S. investigators to find and punish banks and regulators that may have been involved in the scandal.

"Just like the banks and executives they oversee, regulators who were involved should be held to account for any failures to stop wrongdoing that they knew, or should have known about," the senators said in a letter dated Thursday to Holder, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

It's still disturbing that four years down the road from the crash, Washington has not had a single conviction on Wall Street. Anyone in the political class that doesn't think that's important to the real world is kidding themselves. At the same time, anyone in the real world who thinks the political class cares is probably kidding themselves.

The serious issue that Wall Street now has is that they're likely looking at billions of dollars in fines due to Libor manipulation in an already troubled banking industry. The room for manoeuvre by the political class is limited due to voter outrage, so Wall Street could find itself in a very tough situation this time. If they need help again (and there's a good chance of that) they probably won't see the same support for their luxurious lifestyle and bonuses as they did in 2008.

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